Tired Of Tuna Salad? Swap It For This Canned Seafood For A Sandwich Changeup

I've been eating tuna salad my entire life, and in adulthood, I've come to know and love such variants as tuna with tortilla chips, shredded cheese, salsa, and lettuce. (This was my favorite meal served in the chow hall of the New Mexico prison where I once worked.) I've even made an unexpectedly tasty pizza crust out of tuna. Even tuna fans like me, however, want to change it up once in a while. The last time I checked my tuna stash, I was pleased to find a pouch of salmon hiding there. (Pouched and canned fish are essentially the same thing, even if the packaging's different and the former has less liquid.) I wondered if you could use salmon in salad the same way you do tuna, and it turns out that yes, you can.

Everybody has their own recipe for tuna — or, in this case, salmon — salad. Mine is very minimal, using nothing more than lemon juice and mayonnaise — no celery and definitely no pickles. As salmon is fishier-tasting than tuna, it doesn't need much embellishment, but I did give my salad a crunchy topping of jalapeño chips. (I stole this idea from the unique ingredients in McConaughey's tuna salad recipe.)

Salmon salad on wheat toast was everything I hoped it would be, like a more intensely flavored tuna salad. Next time, however, I'm going to make a salmon melt. I usually use sharp cheddar with tuna, but salmon seems better suited to something milder like jack or provolone.

Besides salmon salad sandwiches, there are a number of other easy meals you can make with canned salmon. I've also stirred it into scrambled eggs, used it to top a green salad, and made a Clint Eastwood-inspired salmon and rice bowl. Eastwood, being a rich person, probably makes his with fresh salmon, but it's plenty tasty with the canned kind if you season the fish with soy sauce and rice vinegar. I also like to add a soft-boiled egg and a few slices of pickled ginger.

Another popular use for canned salmon is making low-cost salmon patties. They're super simple, since all you need to do is mix the fish with about half the amount of either bread or cracker crumbs, then bind the mixture with egg or mayonnaise. You'll probably want to add in some flavorings as well. Chopped onion and lemon juice, along with salt, pepper, and paprika, will make for something fairly traditional, but you can go Asian-inspired with ginger, garlic, and ponzu sauce or spice up your fish cakes with salsa or chopped jalapeños. 

The salmon patties are then fried in butter or oil until they're golden and crunchy. You can eat canned salmon straight out of the can since it is fully cooked, so there's no need to worry about hitting any specific internal temperature. Once the patties are done, they're best eaten on hamburger buns with lettuce, tomato, and tartar sauce or mayonnaise with an extra squeeze of lemon.